Puppy problems: jumping

The truth is at first, all puppies jump. It’s our duty as responsible dog owners to fix this behavior so that it doesn’t become a problem.

Just like your pup sniffs a new dog’s face when they meet, they want to sniff yours! Since we’re so much larger than they are, they think they need to jump to greet us and grab our attention. Most of the time dogs jump up because their humans have taught them to jump up.

A small, fluffy, excited jumping puppy is one thing, cute even. But what happens when they are bigger, older and can cause harm by knocking people or things over? Jumping dogs can evoke emotions that range from bothersome to frightening depending on the situation and dog.

To help avoid the excited jump from your pup, we’ve asked our trainer, Rhonda, for a few of her tips for training your dog.

Try giving your dog something else to do instead of jumping, like sitting, and then positively reward the sitting.

Touching your dog, talking to your dog, and looking at your dog are all rewards for jumping up on people. So you need to leave your emotions at the door when fixing this behavior.

But most important, you have to be patient.

Try these three tips to help stop your puppy from jumping. If you’re still having problems curbing the problem, we now offer a Puppy Basics drop-in class among our training programs! Contact us, today, to see which training program is right for your pup.